3:00 AM
by MockingJayFlyingFree
Summary: It's 3:00 AM - and Katniss can't sleep. Set in District 13, after hijacked!Peeta was rescued from the Capitol.


_**This drabble was written for the Everlark Drabble Challenge on Tumblr. I was tagged by Sothere, and the prompt was insomnia!Everlark.**_

**3:00 AM**

Johanna snores, but even if she hadn't, I don't think I would've gotten any sleep.

"_Well, you are a piece of work, aren't you?"_

My body aches after training, my bruised ribs worst of all. But day by day, the pain is slowly fading. At first, the pain was almost good, because it took the focus away from everything else. Training has that effect, too - well, at least it does during the day, but it doesn't help me get through the nights.

Dr. Aurelius has offered me drugs, to help me sleep, but I've declined. They're going to check my medical record, and my drug tests need to be clean if they're going to let me go to the Capitol. I can't risk it.

I look down at the alarm clock on Johanna's nightstand. The numbers are fluorescent. Green, but not like the forest. They change from 2:59 to 3:00, and I sigh. I'll have to get up in three hours, and I haven't gotten any sleep at all. Instead, I've been tossing and turning, listening to Johanna's snoring. Trying not to think. Wondering if Johanna is going to have a nightmare tonight. It doesn't seem like it. It's a good night for her.

Does Peeta have nightmares anymore? Or did the hijacking take the nightmares away, too?

This is pointless. I climb down from the top bunk. My bare feet touch the cold floor, soundlessly. I'm only wearing a tank top and a pair of sleeping shorts, and the air is chilly and raw. I hate being underground. I look at the lump in the lower bunk, in the darkness I can only barely see her spiky hair sticking out from under the blanket, but Johanna doesn't stir. I open the door and slip out of the room. It's a relief to get out into the corridor. Our room smells, but I kind of don't notice it until I get out into the fresh air. Or as fresh as it gets down here, anyway.

I start walking. It's so quiet now that everyone is asleep. The only sound I can hear is the faint, far-away humming of the ventilation system.

I consider going to one of my hiding places. The laundry room, perhaps. Or a supply closet. I've sometimes fallen asleep there, when I've been tired enough.

Perhaps if I stay up all night, and train all day tomorrow, I'll be so exhausted tomorrow night that I pass out, like Johanna, and sleep dreamlessly through the night.

"_I think you picked a dandelion."_

I've walked to the hospital. I blink as I stare at the gray metal door. How did that happen? I know that door is always open, all night. Even when the rest of the district sleeps, there is always someone awake here. I don't know what makes me reach out my hand and open the heavy door. The night nurse looks up from her desk, and her eyes widen when she sees me. I suddenly realize what she sees. A thin girl with dark rings under her eyes, arms and legs full of bruises. Black, unruly hair falling over her shoulders and back. Barefoot on the concrete floor, wearing only shorts and a tank top. At 3 AM.

"Katniss?" She says. Of course she knows who I am. Everyone does. Besides, I think I've seen her before. My memories from when I was a patient here are a bit hazy.

"Where's Peeta?" I hadn't intended to say that. I really hadn't. Why did I ask her that question?

Her face changes for a split second. Pity? Disappointment? Anger? I can't tell. Then her nurse mask is on again. Professional. "You know I can't tell you that, Katniss."

"I need to… I can't sleep." It sounds like I'm begging. I didn't mean that, either.

"You have an open prescription for sleeping pills from Dr. Aurelius," she says, her voice somewhat softer now. Compassion – whether it's real or not, I can't say. "I can get you some if you'd like."

I shake my head. No. I can't. No pills. No Capitol pills. No 13 pills. "Peeta," I gasp. "He's the only one who… He's the only one who can help me sleep."

"_Did you like kissing me?"_

The nurse gets up from her chair and walks over to me. She touches my upper arm with her right hand, I'm sure it's meant to be comforting, but I flinch. She instantly lets go of me. Yes, I definitely know her from before.

"I'm afraid I can't let you see him," she says. "You know that."

I do. I did. I still went here. I glance at the upside-down clock on her white uniform. The nurses and doctors seem to be the only ones in 13 who aren't wearing gray.

3:30. Two and a half hours left.

I take a deep, shaky breath. I need to get away from here, before she pages a doctor. Perhaps even Dr. Aurelius. If I show weakness, they'll take me off training. I won't be going to the Capitol. That's all I have left now.

I force myself to smile, but it's as if my face has forgotten how. The muscles of my face hurt when I do. "It's, uh… It's okay."

I make my escape. I bet the first thing the nurse did when I left the room was call security, and I need to get back to my room quickly. I run, it only takes me a couple of minutes to get back to my room. I'm breathless as I open the door to our room. Johanna hasn't stirred.

I open the drawer, and find the pearl. Outside, I hear heavy steps in the corridor. I quickly climb up and get into my bed, turn my face against the wall, close my eyes and pretend to be asleep. The door opens, and I force myself to breathe slowly. I hear hushed voices, and when I open my eyes briefly, I see light from a torch on the wall just above me. I immediately close my eyes again. Then the door closes.

I touch the pearl to my lips. I can't see it in the darkness, but I can feel it. It's small, smooth, cool, real. I know that in the sunshine, on the beach, it was shimmery. It was white, yet it wasn't. I wonder if the old Peeta would've been able to paint it. If he had the right colors in his paint box.

"_I must have loved you a lot."_

I lie awake in the darkness until the digits change from 5:59 to 6:00 and the alarm goes off.


End file.
